Esther Blanchett is one of the main protagonists of Trinity Blood. She is introduced as a novice nun and rebel who meets Abel Nightroad in Istvan. After the Mark of a Lady Saint/Imitation Star Arc, Esther becomes The Lady Saint.

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Esther is described as a seventeen-year-old girl with fair skin, red hair and "lapis lazuli" blue eyes, akin to Albion nobility[1]. Similar to Mary Spencer, Esther has a star-shaped birthmark on the right-side if her torso. In the anime, her hair is noticeably shorter than her novel and manga counterparts.

Esther wears a blue novice nun robes until she becomes a full nun, where she wears Vatican's nun habit consisting of white robes with a blue bias trim. Her personal rosary has the House of Windsor's coat of arms. During the series, she also wears an Empire citizens' clothes as she tries to sneak into The New Human Empire with Abel and Ion.

Her manga cover portrait depicts her with red roses and thorns. Red roses symbolize the Virgin Mary, the thorns may be a reference to The Crown of Thorns.

Her manga portrait features her with scraped knees, a dove and a halo of blue stars above her head, a brown veil, and a large blue star on her chest. At her feet is a black-winged baby angel clutching white lilies and a serpent with an apple its mouth. The dove is symbolic of peace, the halo of stars and veil are references to the Circle of Stars depicted with The Virgin Mary (derived from her identification as the Woman of the Apocalypse). The black-winged angel is a reference to Abel, and the white lilies represent purity for Roman Catholics. The serpent and the apple is an allusion to the original sin and the devil, which also symbolizes Dietrich. Her arcana in Thores' tarot cards is The Star.

In the anime, Esther first appears as a girl who is riddled with grief and guilt after murdering the person who was responsible for the death of her foster mother. She is shown to be a sweet, calm and kind girl who is stubborn at times.

In the manga, Esther is a more short-tempered girl with a strong sense of justice. She is a member of the human resistance who first appears under the guise of a boy. Abel crashes into her as he was fighting off crows. She attempts to stop Gyula's tyranny, but her church is destroyed by the Star of Sorrow, killing her foster mother in the process. After witnessing Gyula sacrifice his life for her's, Esther questions why people have to kill each other, and she eventually sets off on a journey to find an answer. After meeting Ion and the other Methuselah in the Empire, Esther realizes Methuselah and humans were the same. By the end of the Mark of a Lady-Saint arc, Esther she does not understand why people had to die, but she knows it is wrong. She therefore decides to embrace her title as the "Lady Saint," a which she initially she rejected, in the hopes that she could change the world. Compared to the anime, Esther is shown to be quite clever and a more skilled fighter.

In the novels, Esther is shown to be a fearless and rather short-tempered leader of the human resistance and novice nun. Although a capable leader and fighter, she is double-crossed by Dietrich. Unlike the manga and anime, she is not initially afraid of Abel's Krusnik form and is confused as to why he does not use his power. Eventually she becomes traumatized after witnessing his full power. Her personality throughout the series is very similar to how she is portrayed in the manga after the first story arc.

Esther notices Abel Nightroad while dressed as a boy and carrying a small bag with a home-made bomb. Abel crashes into as he was attacked by crows, which she could not avoid. Abel is about to ask if Esther is fine, when his head starts to bleed from the impact with the ground. Dietrich lifts Abel up by his ponytail and threatens the man, that no one hits on Esther. Esther is next summoned in at the St. Matthias's church by Bishop Laura Vitez. Where Abel commments that he'd mistaken Esther for a boy at first, but is quickly interrupted by a punch from Esther before he could finish. Later when Esther shows Abel to his run-down room, she asks Abel not to tell to Bishop Vitez about their earlier encounter. Abel changes subject, and then doubles over from pain. Esther is worried about him, but Abel just says that his stomach is growling, so Esther leaves to find him some food.

In the kitchen of the church Esther makes some sandwiches for Abel, when Dietrich shows up after cleaning the cathedral. Dietrich mentions that Abel is not like the normal priests, and then informs Esther that his informants have notified him that Gyula is in town again, and that the rebellion forces ready were to fight against the vampire. The two suddenly hear something from the hall, and they rush to find a vampire, along with the people he had killed. The vampire proclaims he is seeking information about the new priest, and is interrupted as Dietrich shoots him with silver bullets. The vampire steals Dietrich's gun, before the two could even notice. The vampire knocks out Dietrich, with the intention of capturing the two to present to Gyula. Esther stands her ground and calls him a monster, infuriating him. The vampire grabs Esther by her throat and suffocates her, but at that moment, Abel suddenly falls through the ceiling, landing behind the vampire. Esther then passes out.

Esther wakes up on a bed with Dietrich sitting next to her, crying and apologizing, but happy that she survived. Esther says it is fine, but then she remembers the vampire and Father Nightroad. Dietrich takes her to the kitchen, where Abel is eating. The priest informs her that the vampire fled when he tried to shoot him

Bishop Vitez hugging Esther.

. Esther appears to be shocked.

Esther is next shown praying with Bishop Vitez at the funerals for the latest victims of a vampire attack while Dietrich and Abel watch. After she is done, Esther tells Abel and Dietrich that they are now heading to Gyula's mansion to finish this fight. Bishop Vitez hugs Esther, informing her that she had always known what Esther has been doing. She admits that although she doesn't want to let Esther go, since it was her mission, she encourages Esther to do her best. Bishop Vitez makes Esther promise to return home safely and entrusts Dietrich and Abel to look after her. As the trio head towards the mansion, the church with Bishop Vitez inside is set ablaze by the Star of Sorrow. Abel jumps in front of Esther, shielding her from the shards of glass, before handing her to Dietrich He tells the two to go to somewhere safe while he stays behind to take down the enemy forces.

Esther is next seen alone, mourning for the loss of Bishop Vitez Abel in the middle of the forest. Abel finds her, relieved that she is safe. Esther tells to Abel, that Dietrich is putting out the fire on the church after the bombing. Esther continues to mourn, unable to comprehend why the Bishop had to die. She ponders upon her own insignificance as a single person as the Bishop's last words remind her of her mission. Abel puts her on the head, informs Esther that he will stand by her side, and apologizes for not being able to say anything more in this. Esther starts to cry, promising to Abel that she will not cry anymore.

Dietrich confesses everything.

The two are in front of Gyula's mansion, when a huge beam of light comes down from the sky and destroys the mountains near the town. The two barge into the mansion, where Gyula is already waiting for the two. Esther interrogates Gyula about the light beam, while Abel asks if Gyula has already started the Star of Sorrow. The satellite on the sky was made by Gyula's late wife, with her intention of it originally being the "Star of Hope". Esther shoots Gyula with her bowgun, but the vampire easily catches the arrow. Looking down upon Esther, Gyula retorts whether such a violent race as terrans would get to heaven, before he throws the arrow back at her with blinding speed. Fortunately, Abel is able to catch it in time. Gyula recognizes Abel as one of the AX Agents. Abel pleads Gyula to stop the satellite, pointing out that the satellite was made to transport electricity, and not used as a weapon of destruction. Gyula reveals then that it was Vatican who murdered his terran wife, Maria, on the basis that he was a vampire, and that the second shot is aimed at The Vatican. He asks Dietrich about the Star of Sorrow's alignment, who uses the opportunity to reveal that he has being lying to Esther the whole time. Shocked, Esther tries to shoot at Gyula, but instead finds her bullet has hit Abel. An amused Dietrich reveals he has used his "Marionette strings," making Esther a puppet and him the puppeteer, and demonstrates the ability further by making her shoot Abel several more times. Dietrich leaves soon after that, leaving Esther to die. Gyula is about to drain her of her blood when Abel manages shoot Gyula, to Esther's surprise. Elated, Esther runs and hugs Abel, questioning how it was possible that he is still alive. Abel replies that he is hon

Esther mourning for Gyula's death.

oring his promise to be at her side, and then tells her to go after Dietrich, as he is the only one who can stop the Star of Sorrow.

Esther finds Dietrich and asks him for the termination code for the Star of Sorrow. Which Dietrich tells the code as an apology for having tricked her, swearing that he still loves her. Esther runs back to Father Nightroad, who had just defeated of Gyula. Esther enters the code into the system and waits, but instead of the satellite to self-destruct, Dietrich appears and gleefully explains the target has changed to Istvan. Gyula then realizes that he has been played all along. Abel orders the satellite to self-destruct using his UN Code, saving everyone in the process. Without warning, Radcon bursts into the scene and attempts to shoot Esther, but Gyula uses the last of his strength to shield Esther. The Marquis apologizes for having stolen Esther's loved one and dies in Esther's arms.

Esther leaves Istvan.

In the novels, Esther is the leader of the human resistence. Bishop Laura is captured and then killed by Gyula. Dietrich poses as an injured victim, and attempts to frame Abel as a Vatican spy and encourages Esther to kill him. Esther, however, manages to figure out that Dietrich would not have possibly known this under normal circumstances, revealing he was helping Gyula all along. After being wounded from fighting Abel, Gyula shields Esther from the gunfire of one of his men. The girl asks why he would do this and he replies that he doesn't know, then confesses all he wanted to see was her face smiling again. Realizing Gyula was envisioning his wife as he stared at her in his last moments, Esther thanks him and tells him he has done enough.

Six months after the incident, Esther buries Gyula in an unnamed grave, violating the Vatican law, and decides to find answers before she can decide whether she hates him or not. She leaves Istvan and travels to Rome.

In this manga-only chapter, Esther travels with Tres and Abel towards Vatican on a train. The two priests are talk while Esther starts to think about things. Suddenly a small boy smashes into Father Tres. The boy starts to admire Tres's guns while Abel asks the boy's name. He introduces himself as Etoile ("star" in French}. The window breaks and a methusalah flies inside. Etoile becomes enraged as one of the glass shards makes a small cut on Esther's cheek. The unnamed vampire lifts Etoile up by his head while praising the boy's courage. Esther hits the methusalah with an ashtay and tells Etoile to run away while Tres and Abel raise their guns at the Methuselah. Esther runs away with Etoile, while Tres and Abel stay behind to fight with the vampire. Etoile manages to catch a glimpse of Abel in his Krusnik form, to which Abel gestures him to keep a secret. Esther jumps out the train with Tres and Abel, who had stayed behind to fight the vampire.

Their train tickets were burned in the train accident and so the trio have no choice but to travel through the forest. Tres leads the way, while Abel and Esther seem a bit suspicious about this shortcut.

Abel and Esther are following after Tres, who is leading the way through a deep forest to get fast to Rome., but Esther feels a little relucant to continue. Abel tries to assure Esther that it is all alright because Tres' navigation system is better than navigation phones. But soon they notice that there are actually walking in circles. Tres informs him he has made a mistake as the magnetic fields have changed places, so the trio decides to stay for the night in the forest. After lighting a fire, Abel and Esther talk while Tres is patrols around and spots a moving object. Esther asks from Abel what kind of place Rome is, when they are suddenly attacked by a vampire classified as a Dryad. The Dryad tries to capture Esther, but Tres saves her. Abel spots a lady on a tree branch that only he seems to have seen. Tres asks from Abel to explain what he is seeing, but their fight is getting nowhere. Tres covers for Esther and tells her to withdraw to somewhere safety, while it is decided that Abel goes after the Methusalah. Abel finds the girl deeper in the forest, recalling that here was no forest the begin with, but a single tree. The girl says that she has waited for 500 years for her lover to return, no longer being able to recall if he was a methusalah or a terran. The girl looks at Abel, pondering if he is her lover, before realising that she has the wrong person. The vines pierce through Abel as she requests for his blood.

Tres is fighting against the forest while Esther is hiding in the bushes. The vines overpower Tres and so Esther takes out her gun and leaps into action, shooting at the vines. Tres is freed, but Esther shot him as well. While Esther apologises for her mistake, Tres shoots a vine with a gun on his wrists, revealing to Esther that he is not human. Tres tells Esther to back him up this time.

Abel enters his Crusnik form and kills the methusalah, ending her long waiting. The girl thanks, reminding Abel of Lilith. The exit of the forest is revleaed to the priest as he replies that he doesn't deserve a thanks for all that he has done.

Esther and Tres have stopped their stuggle as the forest ceases it's attack. Tres suggests Esther to get some tutoring regarding her shooting skills when they go to Rome, but thanks her for backing him up. Abel shows up, informing them that he's found the way out of the forest. Tres asks about the enemy, to which Abel answers that the girl has returned back to dust. When Abel suddenly collapses on Esther. Tres heads towards the exit and Esther right behind him, leaving Abel behind to sew up his torn outfit.

Esther is traveling with Father Tres and Father Nightroad when she runs away from the group after she sees Dietrich in the crowd. Tres relays a message to Abel that one of their colleages have arrived in the city as well, but before Abel can say much, the Gunslinger pointsout Esther is missing.

Unable to find him, Esther begins to contemplate her fomer friend's betrayal by her self. Out of the blue, a gang of men approach her, mistaking her for a prostitute moonlighting as a nun. They offer her opium but the nun punches of them in response and makes a run for it. Her escape is cut short when she trips over a pipe and is caught by an unknown man. The man lifts her over his shoulders and after kicking the men who were chasing her, escapes with Esther still over his shoulder. They do not manage to go far before the two fall into a canal.

Later, Leon buys Esther some new clothes. A clerk asks from him if she is his daughter, to which Leon corrects that Esther is his lover. As they walk around the town, Leon asks why she ended up running into the trouble in the first place. Esther tells him that she was looking for someone, Leon disapproving it asks if it was her boyfriend, but Esther denies this, and explains it was the exact opposite. No matter how cruel he was to her, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Leon understands and likens love and hate as two side of the same coin, then asks if Esther had anyone she can rely on. The nun remembers that she does, to which Leon remarks that she is "too good for that airhead," much to her confusion.

Leon reasons with her that nothing can be done until drawn, because the city has been transformed with the arrival of a new vampire, who controls the city with opium. The two are interrupted by gun fire and decide to run. Esther tells to Leon that her hometown was run by a vampire too. Leon asks if it was Hungary, to which Esther confirms, but adds the vampire realized his mistake and does not know where he went wrong. The nun informs Leon that she is looking for an answer to just that.

Esther explains at the moment, she is weak and needs protection, but there are things she wants to do. Leon is impressed and gives her encouragement, calling her "second best woman in this world." All of a sudden, a bullet strikes Esther's new friend. The nun is shocked and shoots at the criminals with her concealed gun, but the leader catches the bullets easily and threatens her with death, prostitution or rape.

Tres and Abel run to the rescue, shooting the guys and saving Esther. Esther runs over to the gravely injured Leon, who asks if the next time they could have a date that would last till dawn. He is about to introduce himself to her, when she is yanked away by the vampire, who threatens to kill Esther if Tres and Abel would not throw away their guns. Esther, realising the situation tells Tres to shoot, but Leon tells them to stop. He uses his chakrams to slice off the boss vampire's hands, saving Esther. Leon then officially introduces himself as an AX Agent, to Esther's shock and surprise.

The next day, Leon holds Esther on his lap as he informs Abel that he was sent to help them after being informed of their poor performance on their recent missions. He sympathizes how she was around "two idiots" and Esther agrees, then asks if it was alright for her to go to Rome. Leon reminds her that she said she had something to do, and asks her if she had any regrest. The nun sternly replies she doesn't and thanks the priest. Touched by her determination, he hugs her, much to the comedic dismay of Abel and Tres.

Leon holds his hand out to Abel, but then pulls the priest down by his head and warns him not to keep his distance from Esther, who promised him a date that would last till dawn. Esther is shocked and embarrased while Abel humorously looks on with horror.

Tres, Abel and Esther are traveling on Adrian sea aboard the Ariel towards Vatican. Abel is confunsed why they are traveling on a such a fine cruiser, but rushes off to the bathroom due to seasickness. Esther is left with Tres, who assures her once again that her coming along is not a trouble. He leaves her as he goes on a patrol.

Esther starts to feel homesick, realising finally that she is now really far away from home. She wipes her tears when an older gentleman offers her a hankerchief. Suddenly, the nun is hit by a small plane. The man reveals miniature plane belongs to him, and that he is testing it for the night's show. The man tells Esther that he has a child like her, with pale skin and blue eyes, but is currently sleeping. Abel shows up and is shocked to see the man and appears to scream vampire, but it turns out he meant "Professor."

The three talk with the Professor Wordsworth about a rumor of the Saint Siren: A mermaid that lures a ship into a certain doom with her song. The Professor comments how the mermaid's song could sound just like Angelina's before they all fall asleep. Esther manages to see pair of fangs poking from Angelina's lips. The only one who doesn't fall asleep is Tres, as he is a machine. Angelina lashes Tres with her blade and damages his arm even more, making it fall off.

While Tres is paying attention to his arm, Angelina disappears and Tres goes to find her. When he is suddenly pulled underwater and Angelina's true form is revealed as being a type of vampire known as "mermaids". Tres comments that he cannot drown and that he won't die, he will just break. Angelina then attemptes to destroy Tres, when someone shoots her arm. Abel appears and pulls Tres to the surface while leaving Angelina in water.

The Arc begins with Esther, having turned sixteen and becoming a full nun. She mentions it has been six months after she met Abel Nightroad. Eventually she and Father Tres sees him talking to the beautiful Cardinal Caterina Sforza, and after feeling inadequate, runs off feigning a stomach ache.

Unbeknownst to her, Abel heard her shout. Caterina informs him that it was Sister Esther Blanchett, who topped her training course class. Abel praises her skill, but the Cardinal asks Abel if she was acquainted Dietrich. She informs Abel, that the Rozenkreuch Orden is stubborn, but she is even more stubborn than them. The Cardinal reveals a deep secret: she is planing to make contact with the New Human Empire. Suddenly Sister Loretta runs over to them, distressed about a vampire on the loose. Abel orders Loretta to head inside with Caterina.

Esther plays with the cat while venting out her frustration and jealousy of Caterina Sforza. Suddenly a wounded nun stumbles over to her, telling to Esther that a vampire is on loose and is after the Cardinal, then asks for where Caterina is. Esther asks from the nun if there was more victims, when the nun reveals that she was alone when she was attacked. Esther becomes suspicious of this fact, knowing a human would never outrun a vampire. A priest runs over to the girls, informing the two that a vampire is on a loose with UV-gel. The nun turns around and kills the priest, revealing that she was the vampire. She compliments Esther for being such a clever Terran and proceeds to drown her in the fountain.

Esther is about to drown when she realizes she is in a fountain. She flips the vampire into the water, infurating her. The vampire proceeds to kill her, but is suddenly burnt to death by the sun. Esther is about to faint from exhaustion when she is suddenly lifted up by none other than Abel. He greets her and welcomes her to the "nearly drowned club". Tres hand Esther's rosary back to her and comments that her robes have ripped down the bust in front of Abel, to her embarrassment. After Abel gives her his cassock, he informs her that they will be working together.

The chapter ends with Sister Kate informing Caterina about the vampire's intentions to assassinate her and compliments Esther. The Cardinal downplays Esther's actions by sternly telling the nun that "sheer luck does not equate to talent". The Cardinal then tells Kate that she has told Abel that they are in negociations with the Empire again, and that she will meet the Empire's envoys at the city of Carthage.

Esther is next seen arresting a man at gunpoint while posing as a prostitute. Later on, Esther and Abel capture a programmer who they take back to the Vatican. Esther mentions that she heard he was assisted by "a wizard".*

Later that night, Tres finds Esther alone after she ran away from Abel. She asks him if he could lead her to the the programmer she had helped capture earlier, and he leads her to his cell. Esther burns her hands on the handle of the cell which he was kept, and Tres opens to the door to find the room ignited in flames.

Not long afterwards, a vampire sneaks up to an unsuspecting Lady Caterina, and becomes offended after the Cardinal calls him a "vampire" instead of a "Methuselah." His anger causes the Cardinal to panic, and just at this moment, Tres barges in and shoots the vampire, believing he was an assassin. The vampire escapes quickly screaming Terrans cannot be trusted, leaving the baffled Caterina to ponder if he was meant to be the messenger sent from The Empire.

The next day, Esther is going through documents with Abel. She becomes increasingly frustrated at his aloof atittude and secrecry after it slip that someone by the name of "Lieutenant Schleid" sealed off the Tomb of the Queen from the outside world. When Esther presses further, Abel feigns ignorance and runs off. The nun wants to go with him, but Abel tells her not to. The priest denies they plan to capture the vampire from the night before, but says he cannot say any more than that when Esther asks him. The nun accepts she cannot go with him on his mission because she is not an AX Agent, but decides to go on her own mission.

Esther ventures alone to confront the vampire assassin. To her surprise, it is a very effeminate young man. Ion quickly jumps from his bed and tackles her, demanding to know why she was here. Frightened for her life, Esther hits Ion's wounded shoulder with her gun, and manages to incapacitate him. Just at that moment, Radu then walks in on the scene and threatens Esther with a knife. Father Nightroad arrives just in time to save Esther, but reprimands her for disobeying his order to leave the vampires alone. He apologizes and explains that before Ion arrived to speak with Lady Caterina, another vampire attacked the embassy. Radu suspects that it is the work of extremists. There is a sudden explosion from a tank, which turns out to be the work of the Inquisition, determined to destroy the vampures. Ion and Esther escape to an underground waterway with a motorboat.

While the escape is underway, Ion is slowed down because of his wounded shoulder, which is bleeding again because of Esther's attack. Esther kindly asks if she should inspect the wound, but Ion yells at her that someone as "lowly" as her should not "soil" his skin. Esther loses her temper and yells at him in a rage, calling Ion childish. Ion is surprised by her sudden fury, and allows her take care of his wound. The Department of Inquisition arrives, letting slip that an "informant" told them of the location of Ion and Esther. Just as they plan to take the pair hostage for questioning, Radu appears and burns the Inquisition members. Their rescue is short lived, however: remembering the attack from earlier at the Vatican, Esther makes the connection that Radu was the extremist.

Esther takes out her gun, and questions if her deduction was correct. Ion is appalled by this accusation, and tells Esther to put her gun down. To Ion's horror, Radu confirms the accusation, and that he is working with the Rosenkreuz Orden. This shocks Ion, who could not believe his friend would do such a thing. Radu moves behind Esther and takes control of her gun, so that it would seem like a Vatican nun killed the Earl of Memphis, which would start a war between the Empire and Vatican. Brother Petros appears, and is perplexed to see a vampire threatening another vampire. Petros starts a fight with Radu to avenge his men, and Esther uses this opportunity to escape with Ion, who is attacked by Radu again. Esther, Abel, and Ion board the boat while Radu uses Petros as a stepping stone to follow them. Using his Ifrit powers, Radu ignites the boat but accidentally causes the sail to fall onto him, flinging him overboard.

After resting to heal his wounds, Ion's remembers a brief part of his childhood with Radu, and cries when he realizes that his only friend has betrayed him. Esther sympathizes with his loss, as she too lost something from the destruction of the chapel she called home. Esther tells Ion that she is by his side and that he is not alone, and although the comment does not make as much of an impact as it did for her, Ion thanks her for her kindness.

Abel walks into the room and heads off into the bathroom, where he looks into the mirror and tells his Krusnik to "stay in there". He is suddenly surprised when Esther questions who "Krusnik" is. Unable to get an answer from him, the nun grabs him and asks if he knew what it was like to be protected by someone she knew nothing about. Their conversation is cut short when Ion interrupts them to bring news that the Inquisition has found them again.

Esther drives their car erratically, frightening Ion. The Inquisition closes in on them and commands them stop and surrender. Esther takes a sharp turn into a small alley and finally stops. Ion sighs from relief and asks if all the Terrans from outside world drive like this. Esther slows down and slips into her own worries about Abel' injuries and her confrontation with him about him hiding his secrets. Abel suddenly warns her of the obstacle before them. Brother Petros is there in the middle of the road and attacks them with his Screamer. Esther manages to dodge the attack, but the whole car flips to it's roof. Ion falls unconscious from the hit, while Esther who is caught by Petros. Abel tries to save her, but is quickly defeated due to his injuries sustained earlier from Petros. At that moment, Radu arrives with Goliath, a tank from The Inquisition, claiming he wants Ion's life. Petros is knocked out by a shot from the Goliath, but is still alive. Radu is about to kill Esther, but is stopped when a lightining bolt strikes him. Abel, in his Crusnik form, telepathically draws Ion's blood to him. The tank fires a shot at Abel and rips through his entire right side, but he still stands as his blood and intestines fall onto the floor. The priest's blood begins to consume the chunks of flesh from the floor and then fuse and repair Abel's body. The Krusnik talks though Abel and announce they will eat the terrified Radu. Abel almost kills him but is stopped by the screams of a horrified Esther, clutching an unconscious Ion in her grasp. Abel tries explain himself, but Esther faints as he wipes a tear from her cheek. The priest looks down at his claw hands and comes to the conclusion that he is a monster.

Tres Iqus and Iron Maiden arrive to help the trio out, and Abel shields Ion and Esther from the airship's attack with his wings, allowing the airship to destroy the tank. The Iron Maiden picks the trio up, and they continue their journey back to the Empire in an airship. Kate reports to Abel that Ion is just a bit anemic, and is about to talk about Esther when she notices Abel appear seemingly distracted. After witnessing the state of his torn cassock, a shocked Kate sends Abel away to get dressed. Kate explains to Tres that Esther is sleeping on tranquilizers and kept saying that that wasn't Father Nightroad, it was a monster. Abel slowly walks down the hallway with that memory in his mind, before curling down on the ground in despair.[2]

Esther wakes up a while later. Outside in the main room, Abel asks Sister Kate how Esther is doing, to which she replies the girl was still in a state of shock after what had witnessed, however nothing physically wrong with her. Ion wants to go with Abel to see how Esther is doing, however they are stopped by an unknown man in bandages. It turns out to be Brother Petros, who is thrilled to find that he has finally uncovered evidence that Caterina Sforza has been conspiring with vampires. Ever protective of Caterina, Tres is about to engage a fight with Petros when the ship is jolted by a huge sandstorm, the Iblis. Abel notices the Iblis is heading northeast, meaning it will destroy the city of Carthage and Caterina Sforza.

Esther is seen lying in her bed, wishing she could sleep some more, but the moment she falls asleep, she sees nothing but the horrific sight of the Krusnik. She denies that is the Father Nightroad she knows, when she suddenly hears Abel's voice from the other side of the door. The frightened nun pulls her covers over herself and does not reply.

Abel apologizes for disturbing her, but proclaims he might not see her again, and he must speak his mind now or he may regret it later. While still on the other size of the door, the priest begins by apologizing for putting Esther in such a grave danger earlier on, and it is not surprised that she is scared, for even he himself is scared of himself.

The priest answers Esther's question from earlier on - why he has never given any thought about what it was like to be protected by someone who kept so many secrets to himself. With trepidation, Abel admits that what he was hiding - his hidden self - was the "mark of his sins". In that form, he feels he can no longer control himself, or them. He had hoped he would never have had to show that form to her, knowing it would sicken her.

Alerted by the rumbles caused by the Iblis, Abel realizes he has no more time. He presses his hand on the glass of the door and pleads for Esther to trust him on one thing: that he really wanted to be by her side, and that he wanted to protect her and Ion no matter the cost; even if it may be hard to believe. The priest leaves Esther, with nothing but sadness and the reminder that she asked him why he never told her anything.

Esther, who had been listening in stunned silence the whole time, is finally able to see Abel for himself and not the monster she thought he was. Devastated knowing how much grief she has caused the priest to endure, the nun leaps from her bed and runs after Abel. Esther unintentionally slams into a heavily-armored Father Tres, who is preparing for battle against Radu in Carthage. Esther asks for the whereabouts of Father Nightroad, and sees him outside the window. The two see each other eye-to-eye as Esther recalls his ominous words that he may never see him again. Kate informs Esther that Abel is traveling towards the city by the underground Karez systems, and to her surprise, Esther asks her to turn back, determined to go with Abel. Tres denies her request, stating that she would be nothing but a hindrance. The nun becomes emotional and, arguing that even though she may be a burden, there was something she had to tell him. Tres appears to be unmoved at her words, but to her surprise, orders Kate to drop Esther at a nearby location, under the pretense that she would be a burden on their battleship as well. The cyborg then advises Esther to hide in the Karez systems, the very place Abel is currently in, and that whatever she does would be her own decision. Stunned with shock, the nun quickly prepares herself for her journey.[3]

Abel sees a hologram of Lilith.

Abel enters the undergrounds of Carthage alone to shut down the Iblis to save the city. After destroying several autojagers, the priest laments his own existence as no different to these animated deceased vampires: he is still a monster. As he climbs the stairs, his past memories come to haunt him: Isaak declaring him he could not protect those close to him, Cain informing him he will make an enemy of the world, and Esther's fearful cry calling him a monster. The priest precedes to enter the system termination code, but to his horror, the the system does not recognise his shutdown command, and instead, Abel finds himself face-to-face with a pre-recorded hologram of Lilith Sahl.

Lilith sadly tells to Abel that she along with Elissa would've preferred to bury the town than handing it over to the Methuselah "returners". Along with Elissa Dal Schleid, Lilith created The Iblis, the Angel of Desert, sandstorm to protect Carthage from its enemies. Lilith then tells Abel that she made a bet with the Elissa, Queen of Carthage, that Abel had some humanity still left in him: If he could bringing back even a single Terran with him, he would be able to shut down Iblis and save himself.

Esther rescues Abel.

Before she disappears, Lilith tells Abel that she knows that he only hated humanity and became Contra Mundi because he loved, believed, but was betrayed and could not endure the pain. But despite all this, he still loves this world and the people in it. She reminds him that it is never too late to start over. Realizing there were no humans left, Abel cries in despair, accepting it is too late for himself just as it is too late for Lilith. An autojager attacks him from behind and drains his blood, but exhausted and riddled with grief, Abel is powerless to fight it off and prepares for death by Lilith's side. As he closes his eyes, the autojager is shot by Esther Blanchett, who scolds at him for running off alone.
As Abel is near death, he suddenly sees the red hair and mistakes it for Lilith. The person who saved him turns out to be Esther, who angrily informs him that she is not afraid of him. Abel, shocked at the memory of Lilith's gentle words as Esther chides him, and begins to comically cower in fear. Esther stops when she accidentally steps on his glasses. Abel thanks her, and fights off the rest of the autojagers, while Esther uses her human hand to deactivate The Iblis. As Abel helps Esther shut down The Iblis, he is reminded of Lilith's last words.

Abel and Esther deactivate the Iblis.

In the novels, Abel and Esther observe the townspeople who have evacuated. Abel questions whether the people will be alright, to which Esther replies they will be, as they have escaped with their lives. As long as they had their family, friends and companions, they could rebuild. The priest agrees and, when questioned why he was blushing, responds that it was because he was near someone who cares about him. Esther pretends that he is talking about Caterina, Tres or Kate, which causes Abel to humorlessly claim even his teammates bully him. The nun suppresses a laugh and thinks that people can start over and walk again, even if they are in the despair of their sins, as long as they have someone walking with them. The arc ends with Esther teasing she might change her mind if Abel behaves.

=====The Very Center of the Blue Storm=====

Ion, Esther and Abel continue their journey towards the Empire by boat. In the novels, it is only mentioned later that their boat was attacked by pirates. This was expanded the manga.

Ion, dressed into Terran's commoner clothes used in the Empire to conceal his identity, leans against a railing while speaking to Esther, when someone suddenly grabs his hand. Ion pulls the unconscious man onto the ship. Abel shows up and recognizes the man as Hugue de Watteau. Ion is hides behind a door when the priest wakes up, calling him Agnes. Hugue explains that he was out on the sea while pursuing pirates, reminding Abel that he had run into one of them too, Miss Mermaid. Father de Watteu tells them that the ship that the pirates sail is surrounded by a blue ball that repels sunlight, the same thing that surrounds The Empire, indicating that the crew is made up of Methuselah. Ion doesn't like the sound of this and wishes Father Hugue de Watteu good luck in catching them. Suddenly, someone knocks over a bomb, blowing the ship up.

The pirates kidnap Esther and Abel while Ion and Hugue fall into the ocean. Ion tries to go after them, but Hugue stops him, telling him that the Methuselah are not going to use Esther's blood after she had inhaled in so much of the smoke.

The Ion and Hugue make it to the pirate ship and take down the crew. Ion yells out loud for Abel to hear that he is to protect Esther and will not allow anything bad to happen to her, or he would kill him. Hugue is challenged by the ship's captain, who stabs Hugue, almost killing him until Ion rushes over to rescue him. Ion decapitates the Captain, calling Hugue his comrade. As he dies, the pirate admires the way Ion had worded it, but reminds him not all Methuselah agreed with him. Ion acknowledges this, and is about to collapse from exhaustion while muttering Radu's name, when Hugue catches him.

Esther and Abel are set free. Father Hugue de Watteu leaves soon without saying bye, and Abel remarks that he is always like that. Ion asks who this Agnes is, and Esther says that he called her that as well. Abel explains that it was is the name of his sister, and that he calls every girl he meets that. Ion is in shock. The three of them continue the rest of the way to the Empire on the pirate ship.

As the trio arrive to the Empire on boat, Ion asks from Esther if she would like to stay at the Empire with him. He tells her to take her time in thinking about it, and in the manga, confesses that he likes her. Mimal, a Terrans friend of his family, comes to welcome them. Ion thanks him and asks Mimal to look after Esther and Abel while he headed to see his grandmother. On the way, he becomes flustered that he confessed and then plans out how he would take care of Esther if she agrees.

Ion's joy is short-lived, however, when he returns home to be greeted with the horrific sight blood everywhere. Ions to upstairs where a scream rang though, and is greeted by the sight of an autojäger next to her body. Enraged, the boy attacks them, but is no match for the autojäger. The count is thrown against a wall and about to be killed when Esther and Abel show up. Esther shoots the autojäger, killing it. Abel soon realizes that this was all just a trap, grabs the two, and jumps out through the window. The whole mansion explodes. Ion watches his home burn down, confused at what happened. The three are suddenly surrounded by Yeniceri, the palace guards. Abel wonders why they were there, for the Yeniceri hardly ever leave the palace. The leader of the troops, Baybars announces that he is there to arrest Ion for killing his grandmother, the Duchess of Moldova. Ion does not understand how they can suspect him for killing his own grandmother, but Baybars is convinced. Abel uses the flashbombs he had taken from the autojäger and the three of them escape.

The three find shelter from the Countess of Kiev, Astharoshe Asran, who was ordered by the Empress to watch over for the messenger from the Vatican. Later on, Astharoshe finds Esther in her bathhouse. Embarrassed that she was caught commenting how surprising it was to find such a beautiful bath in the Empire, the nun stands up and tries to leave while profusely apologizing. Astharoshe pushes her back in and tells her she is a guest. The Duchess confirms the nun's name is Esther, and offers her deepest sympathies when told she is a collage of Abel's. Esther is amazed at Astha's beauty, knowing she herself is covered with scars and scrapes. Noticing Esther's star-shaped birthmark, Astharoshe inquires about whether her mother named her after that, to which Esther replies she doesn't know - she was left in front of a church as an infant, with nothing but a rosary and her name. Esther questions if the Duchess is helping them because to return a favor for Abel, which earns her a comically 'inhuman' enraged response from Astharoshe - he owed her, and more than just favors. The Duchess does recall the Empress personally asking for her help; perhaps knowing they would be in trouble. The two discuss how the Empress is rumored to be over eight-hundred years old, and that she would lead the Methuselah through eternity. It is for that reason that Astharoshe pledges to put her life on the line for them.

Ion is depressed after what he had to witness back at his mansion. Esther and Astharoshe try to convince the boy to eat, but he rejects the offer. Astharoshe becomes frustrated by this and yells at him for being inconsiderate towards her hospitality. Astharoshe questions how he could show such weakness in front of Terrans, and how the Duchess of Moldova raised him. Infuriated that his at the insult of his grandmother, which causes an amused Astharoshe to comment that the boy should use that energy to reflect on himself, rather than directing it at her. She points out he had not been considerate of a worried Esther. Embarrassed, the Count resolves to stop sulking and starts to eat. Astharoshe tells them that she is going to report to the Empress tomorrow about their safe arrival.

The next day, while Astharoshe and Abel are in the Dewan (court), Ion and Esther visit the Terrans side of the Empire. Ion wants to meet Mimal. They get lost on their way, however. At that moment, they run into a young girl named Seth, decides to help them out to find Mimal after they buy some tea from her. When they arrive, Ion lifts Esther onto his arms and jumps into Mimal's office is. To their surprise, Mimal is fatally wounded by an autojäger. Ion disposes of the autojäger and runs over to Mimal, who is confirmed to be still alive by Esther. Mimal apologizes to Ion and states he did not mean to betray him, but he had told the Baron of Luxor about his arrival. Ion is shocked as he had thought Radu was dead. The autojäger, apparently not yet dead yet, attacks the two. Esther jumps to shield Ion from the blow. Ion finally finishes the autojäger, and finds out that Esther had been badly injured. Seth suddenly shows up, asking if they need her help.

Later when Esther wakes up, she finds herself in Seth's apartment with Ion and Seth. Seth brings some tea and food to Esther and asks her how she has been doing. Seth teases Ion by talking about how worried he was to Esther, before reminding him that Methuselah/Terrans marriages are forbidden in the Empire. Seth reveals that she is a medical student, and that Esther is not from the Empire as she had been speaking in Latin and Hungarian in her sleep. Ion tells Esther that Seth is now under the impression that Ion fell in love with Esther and brought her back to his home. Seth assures the two that their Esther's identity as a Terrans from the ‘outside’ is safe with her, if they would promise not to tell anyone that she is really a student. Ion tells Seth to start focusing more on her studies as it is forbidden to work a side job as a student. Seth, not caring much about what Ion has said, asks the boy to go buy some groceries for Esther, or watch as she bandages Esther. Ion finally agrees to go, leaving the two girls alone. Seth starts to change Esther's bandages, when Esther asks Seth's real age, to which she replies is thirteen years old. Esther is amazed by how far Seth has proceeded in her studies despite her young age. Seth tells Esther that the Empire's system values Terrans for their skills, rather than affluence and money like the outside.

Ether is still unable to see how they coexist as Terrans are still servants to the Methuselah, to which Seth reminds Esther that the Methuselah are not the real masters of Terrans. The real master is the leader of the New Human Empire, Augusta Vradica. Hurting a human is hurting the Empress' property. The Terrans do the Empress' bidding and are her children, therefore they and Methuselah are equal, and can coexist.

Esther comments that this balance is only possible while the Empress exists. She reasons to Seth that if the Empress passes away or just suddenly changes her mind, the way of coexisting disappears. Seth smiles, liking that Esther is smart enough to figure that out and confirms Esther's thoughts to be true.

There is a sudden knock on the door. Seth thinks it is Ion and opens the door, when they are suddenly attacked by a group of autojägers. Esther tries to grab her shotgun, but is knocked out in the process. The final thing that she sees before losing consciousness is Seth standing up, facing the autojägers. Some time later, Esther is woken up by Abel. She asks for the whereabouts of Seth, shocking Abel in the process. Esther opens a cupboard to look for her, only to find herself flooded by a large pile of salt and the remains of autojäger uniforms.

After Ion is attacked by Radu on his way back, Everyone returns back to Astharoshe’s mansion to plan their next move. Abel is out trying to find Radu while Esther, Ion and Astharoshe talk. Astharoshe explains to Esther that the Island of Beloved Children she can see from the window is where all the nobles have gathered to mourn the Duchess of Moldova. She elaborates that the Methuselah have no religion and don't believe in souls, but the funeral are held for the living. Astharoshe alludes to her own past as she explains long as they are alive, they have to keep on living, even if their hair turns white. Esther desolately notes that Ion cannot even be allowed to grieve.
Noticing Ion was acting strange, Esther approaches him. The boy simply asks for the whereabouts of Radu and declines to wait as per Astharoshe's suggestion. Esther is skeptical that Radu to appear tonight at his grandmother’s funeral, as there were so many nobles present. Ion argues that this is the only chance for Radu, as now he is certain where the Empress will be. Abel and Astharoshe’s Kethuda show up, apologizing for being unable to find Radu. Asthe thinks he might be somewhere they haven’t searched, and so she decides to go and see Süleyman, who was in charge of arranging the funeral. Astharoshe takes Abel with her and orders Ion and Esther to stay behind, as Esther had not recovered and Ion is a wanted man. Esther tries to stop Ion as he is about to search for Radu, but he confronts her past. He asks her why she would care and why she hasn't told to him about Bishop Vitez. He leaves before Esther can reply.

Esther follows Seth to the
Duchess of Moldova's tomb. Seth surprises Esther and tells her this time that she is a secret agent from a noble. Seth also reveals that getting close to Ion and Esther was part of her mission in investigating the situation of the 'extremists'. Esther and Seth hide as autojagers move to the Duchess of Moldova'stomb. Seth tells Esther that they will run inside after the autojagers leave.

Inside the tomb they find dynamite, and realize that the enemy is planning to blow up the Empress when she visits the tomb the next day. Esther and Seth head out as Esther wants to warn the Duchess of Kiev. The Duke of Tigris appears, smiling as he learns that Astharoshe Asran was the one hiding the criminals in her home. The autojagers also start showing up. Seth tells Esther to run while she fights their way out of the mass of enemies using two small daggers. Seth tells Esther to hurry and inform Astharoshe about this while she stays behind.

Esther appears and shatters Radu's blade with her bullet as he was Radu poised to kill Ion, but Baybars knocks her out. Radu resumes his task to Ion, but then he is interrupted by Empress Augusta Vradica herself, who says that she has many things she wants to ask Ion. Radu having no other choice but to allow Ion and Esther to be incarcerated.

While the two are in prison, Ion apologizes for getting the them into this mess. He still thinks that Esther must hate him for it being Methuselah. Esther tells to the Earl, however, that she doesn't hate him, he wasn't the one who killed her family. Their discussion is interrupted by Radu, who Ion finally recognizes as someone else. Radu introduces himself as Dietrich, who Esther knows. Esther is shocked and she warns Ion about his wires, but it is too late. Dietrich cuts a vein from Ion's neck, sending him in the state of uncontrollable hunger. Ion grabs Esther's and is about to drain her dry. For his own amusement, Dietrich throws a silver knife towards Esther for her to use to kill him. He leaves the two of them with a sadistic smile.

Ion momentarily comes back to his senses and begs Esther to kill him, refusing to drink her blood. Esther hugs him, offers her blood so that he will not to cry. Ion stabs himself in his own leg to stop himself from drinking her blood. Ion apologizes and is about to kill himself to save Esther, but the blade suddenly disappears. It turns out Abel has appeared to save the two, much to Esther's relief and gratitude.

Ion and Esther make their way to the meeting hall. Süleyman orders the Yenceri to capture them, but they are stopped by Augusta Vradica, who is alive and survived the explosion. It turns out the Empress used a double: Mirka Fortuna, Ion's grandmother. The Empress reveals it was all just a set up to root out the extremists inside the Empire. The real Empress reveals herself to be Seth, the tea seller Ion and Esther met earlier. Ion is speechless. Süleyman does not take this well and aims with the ring at Seth to kill her, but purposely misses her, and is quickly killed by Astharoshe. Seth tells Esther to just call her Seth, as she is her friend. Seth asks where Abel is, and they realize that the priest has headed after Radu.

Esther and Astharoshe arrive and try to save Abel, just as he was about to lose the fight. Esther is shocked that Dietrich in Radu's body is still standing after a fatal hit to his body. The puppeteer easily defeats Astharoshe. Abel attempts to activate his Crusnik power as Dietrich threatens Esther, but collapses due to lack of Methuselah blood in his system.

Seth shows up at the scene. Dietrich quickly realizes that she is the Empress Augusta Vradica and tries to kill her, but Seth transforms into her Krusnik form. Seth uses her highly focused ultrasound energy to turn Radu's body into dust. Seth tells Dietrich that she will let him off the hook this time, but the next time they meet she, would deliver his end. She tells Dietrich to run to the furthest corner of the Earth as she will catch him and punish him for hurting Ion, Süleyman and Radu, her children. After the fight, Seth asks Esther if she could have a word with with Abel, and tells him that Esther is "a good kid" and laughs at how Abel refers to her as "my dear Esther".

*

Later on, Esther finds Ion is sitting on a ledge while looking at the sea. Relieved that he was not crying, Esther brings him a blanket and the two talk. The nun informs him that she now sees that Methuselah are also human, in contrast to her ideas of them a year ago. Esther manages again to cheer up the Earl, who has found new motivation and is planning to become stronger. He says that when that time comes, he will ask her again if she wants to stay with him in the Empire. Esther says that she will be waiting for that then.

*

One week later, Esther interrupts her new friends and informs them that she is about to take her leave. Just as the other Methuselah bid farewell to her, Astharoshe notices Ion's sadness. Ion had forgotten that time flowed differently because Esther was a Terran, and worries that he may never see her again. The boy is about to say something but stops himself because of his doubts, but then at that moment, the Duchess encourages the Count to tell her how he feels. He runs to her just as he is about to leave, and knowing he will need to become stronger, tells her that he will see her one day for sure. Esther smiles back at him and leaves.

Esther calls out to Abel Nightroad as he was talking with his sister, Seth. Seth informs him that Esther reminds of her of "her."

Esther and Abel arrive immediately in Istvan after their departure from the Empire. Esther notes she is eighteen-years old now and warmly greets Abel, but because the two were summoned to Istvan out of the blue after they left the Empire by Caterina, the priest is too preoccupied with his own omnious feelings to hold a conversation. Abel and Esther are suddenly swarmed by the media who all want to interview "The Lady Saint". Tres arrives in a car and diverts the media away while Esther sneaks into an alleyway. The nun soon encounters a reporter named Clement, who has proof that Esther's father, "Edward Blanchett" was actually Edward White, the knight who murdered Prince Gilbert and his wife, Victoria.*

Esther greets the Pope and Lady Caterina. The Cardinal thanks her for helping her contact the Empire, and as Esther proceeds to inform Caterina of her story, Abel interrupts and gives his fictional account instead, wherein they never met the Empress but Astharoshe delivered the letter.. The nun is shocked. and comedically grabs his face in anger. Not long after, Caterina introduces Pope Alessandro XVIII to Esther, who would not believe someone like herself could meet someone like him. *

Esther considers the tragedy on Gyula's death and that comes to the conclusion she is definitely not a saint. She turns to Abel for assurance, but he is too preoccupied admiring the chandelier with Tres. Annoyed, Esther holds Abel over the railing. The nun remarks that the woman looks familiar, and Abel replies that the lady dressed in a nun's robes is the famous acress who will be playing Esther in the play. Esther says she was talking about the dark-skinned woman, but soon turns around after being addressed by Archbishop d'Annunzio after he tells her that she will be giving a speech. The woman notices this and glares at their direction while clutching her wrist.

Esther is knocked over a very lost Brother Petros in the hallway. He proceeds to apologize until he realizes it was the girl who aided vampires. Esther thanks him graciously for his help at Carthago and he initially politely acknowledges, but is suddenly perplexed as to why someone of her status would be at such an important function.

Esther informs D'Annunzio is is uncomfortable with the speech.

Esther explains that Archbishop D'annunzio has ordered her to give a speech in front of the audience he wrote for her. Petros does not believe her and takes her speech script from her, only to realize the speech encouraging war had Archbishop's signature there, and becomes increasing suspicious when Esther mentions The Duchess of Milan summoned her. Archbishop D'annunzio appears and asks what Petros was doing in there, which causes the flustered inquisitor to thank and praise his former superior. Esther questions whether it was alright to preach about war in the speech, but the Archbishop tells Esther that people want to hear about a "riveting and dramatic story," and that a heroine will provide an inspiration to the people, who are still in peril after the events of last year.

Esther soon leaves to make preparations and the Archbishop D'annunzio makes a snide remark that he has never gotten along with intelligent women to Petros. Petros looks at the Archbishop as he confesses he just wants his "fodder" to "act like the brainless fodder they ought to be". D'Annunzio explains it is exactly as it sounds: "Saint Esther" is just an artificial image created with the power of mass marketing. He elaborates that the reason why the Vatican wants to make such an investment is because of the decline of the Vatican in the secular world, and creating a "Saint" is the perfect method to revive their position as the core of human society.

A terrified Esther is summoned onto the stage and struggles to give her speech. The nun fumbles the script D'Annunzio gave her earlier and ends up spilling the papers on the floor. To everyone's surprise, the nun manages improvise a speech of her own.

Determined to dispell the belief that she is a saint, Esther admits she initally came back to Istvan because of the invitation that was given to her, but has changed her mind and wants everyone to pray in memory of the blood that was spilt and the lives lost in Istvan. Not just for the allies, but also the enemies. Although they had no choice at the time to fight, Esther explains she no longer believes that is true. Everything started from a misunderstanding, both sides thought each other had to die, but both sides were also the same: they smiled, cried, hated and loved. Yet, it was all lost to a misunderstanding. Esther urgers people to question their own "righteousness", and the "righteousness" advocated in the world. The crowd is perplexed as the nun encourages people to think about whether their own sense of justice is their presumption or propaganda. Although this may mean God and righteousness are complete illusions, the nun tells people to keep questioning, because she believes people will find the truth they cannot deny: love. Love is what God left behind, and that is why she believes in him, and that he left it behind because he loves them. In memory of the people who have died, Esther ends her speech by encouraging people to pray for the departed.

Esther's speech earns her a standing ovation from the crowd. Brother Petros, too, is moved by her words and "extraordinary" charisma, and for a moment considers that she could become somebody who could change the world.

An assassin kidnaps Esther.

The woman Esther and Abel saw earlier approaches the stage to bring flowers. A guard tells her that is it not time yet, but she does not listen, using her abilities from her glove to flick soldiers out of her way. The Methuselah announces her name as Shahrazad, an assassin sent from the Methuselah Empire to kill "the murderer who calls herself 'Saint'". She destroys the wall behind her and makes her way over to Esther and whispers something, but is stopped by Brother Petros, who engages in a battle with her. Shahrazad defeats him with ease and kidnaps Esther and flees into the night. Abel calls out for Esther but is held back by the panicked crowd. As Shahrazad leaves, she bids farewell to the Archbishop before leaving, which does not go unnoticed by Petros.

Shahra saves Esther from the police soldiers

Later when Esther wakes up alone in underground tunnels and runs into a group soldiers. Instead of rescuing her, however, they attempt kill her and frame Shahrazad for the crime. The Countess shows up in time and saves Esther from the men, and is suprised when Esther uses Methuselah to refer to her instead of "vampire". She formally introduces herself as Shahrazad al-Rahman, Countess of Baylon, whose job was to oversee the recruitment of the city guards in Timisoara up until a week ago. Esther realises that the Countess is the niece of Süleyman, and she elaborates that she fled the Empire after she unintentionally became implicated in her uncle's betrayal of The Empress. Esther is surprised, but Shahrazad pleads that she understand she had her reasons and bandages the nun's face.

The Methuselah apologizes and clarifies that he never intended to harm the saint, but she was ordered to do so by the same man in charge of the soldiers from earlier. This man was the same person who gave Esther the title of Lady Saint, tortured Shahrazad and took her family hostage: Archbishop Emanuele d'Annunzio. Enraged, Esther agrees to help her rescue her family.

D'annunzio stabs himself to frame Esther.

While waiting for The Pope and Caterina to come to dinner, D'Annunzio tells his lieutenant that his bad premonition has come true when Shahrazad kidnapped Esther. The lieutenant apologizes and asks if they will escape, but d'Annunzio informs him that would be impossible as it is taboo to the vampires to leave their "livestock." The Archbishop predicts that Shahrazad will try to contact him to exchange Esther for her human "livestock", or team up and try to contact Cardinal Sforza. If the latter were to happen, D'Annunzio explains they will have to "martyr" Esther, who had become an international celebrity due to her being kidnapped, to frame the vampire. This would inevitably mean that the media will be enamoured with the story, Rome will be forced to start a war, and the person at the front lines like Istvan - such as himself - will have power rivaling that of the Pope's.

Just as he is fantasizing out loud, Esther makes her presence known. The girls confront the Archbishop, who reveals that this has all been part of his schemes to start a war between the Empire and the humans. The Archbishop has a backup plan, though, as he pulls out a knife and sticks it into his own shoulder, making it seem like an attack from Esther and Shahra, just as Cardinal and Pope arrive in the room. Esther tells Shahra that they need to leave, and pushes her down just in time to dodge Tres Iqus's bullets. Shahra shields them from more of Tres attack until Abel arrives and tell Tres to stop. But the Gunslinger does not listen, and resumes his orders to take down the people who attacked the Archbishop. He fires another bullet but appears to have hit the Pope instead, who stepped in the way to shield the two girls. Shahrazad persuades Esther to quickly use this opportunity to escape while Abel examines Alessandro and confirms that he was simply suffering from a concussion. An infurated Caterina orders people to go after the two, no matter what it takes.

The women make it outside where they run into Petros again, who was just about to go to ask how the search for Esther was going. The Knight of Destruction is fired up when he sees Esther befriending a vampire again, does not listen while Esther tries to explain, and attacks. Shahra fights against Petros, but ends up losing the battle. Just as it it seems the two are at their end, a pack of wild dogs attack Petros, allowing the two to flee. Esther tries to rob a car at gunpoint, but it turns out to be Mr. Butler's car, who glady takes them to a hotel.[4]

Some time later, Esther wakes up after sunrise to find Shahra on the window sill watching the sunset. The Countess explains her uncle Süleyman raised her after her parents died. He was in charge of protection of regional towns and cities and took her on his travels, and those bordering cities of Misr, Cyprus and Palmyra were mainly inhabited by Terrans. Süleyman taught her that regardless whether people were Terran or Methuselah, they were all human, and the two befriended many Terrans on their travels. This was why she loved the Sun and Terrans, and she treated her servants like her family.
The two head to meet the owner of the hotel, Ignaz, who is Esther's friend and a former member of the human resistance. Ignaz agrees to help out the girls, but Esther says that it is not necessary. She asks from him how many old friends he could gather to fight against the Archbishop of Istvan, Ignaz explains that he could try, but everyone has at the moment. Ignaz says that he cannot believe that anyone would become such a fine man's enemy. Mr. Butler interrupts the conversation to tell them that the Archbishop is only trying to turn the peoples' anger towards something else, in this case, the Empire. Esther decides to write a letter to the Cardinal Caterina to ask for her help.

Later the two girls are pondering where the Archbishop could have brought Shahra's family, and they suspect it would be in Gyula's mansion. Ignaz brings them some tea, but then Esther suddenly faints. It turns out the hotel owner had drugged her. He apologizes as Archbishop's soldiers show up to capture the two. The soldiers kill Ignaz, intending to frame Shahra for the murder of the Lady Saint. Their plan is thwarted as Abel and Petros show up to help, taking down the soldiers with ease. The four of them escape.

Their escape is cut short when they run into Sister Monica and Father Tres outside the hotel. Under the orders to capture Esther and the vampire, the two start to fight with Petros and Abel. Monica asks to surrender, but Esther stands her ground to defend her friend and is almost killed until Petros arrives. Shahra and Esther flee in a truck, but Sister Monica soon catches up with them and jumps onto the windshield. The witch uses her powers passes through the truck's front glass and begins to choke Esther. Realizing she has merged with the glass, Shahra uses her powers to shatter the windshield, damaging Monica along with it. The two women run from the scene, leaving Monica to crash with the truck.
Shahra and Esther find the Archbishop as he is about to kill the Cardinal and the Pope. Esther tells Shahra to escape with the Cardinal and Pope, but Shahra was frozen, having seen the dead bodies of her family. Esther screams at the Archbishop for having lied to Shahra from the very beginning, which the Archbishop replies it was obvious that he would have done just that. In the novels, Shahrazad tells Esther she now hates Terrans with all her heart before charging at d'Annunzio. Shahra leaps towards the Archbishop and murders his guards, but is stopped by the UV-lights before she could reach him. The Methuselah lies on the floor in pain as she is shot by the soldiers.

Esther remembers a time earlier when she and Shahrzad were at the hotel. Shahrzad was brushing her hair when she admits she was glad to become friends with Esther, despite only knowing her for a day. The nun asks what Shahrzad said to her just before she kidnapped her at the opera house, to Shahrzad simply smiles and replies she had forgotten. Back in the present, Esther remembers: "please stand by my side."

Abel, Petros and Tres arrive. The nun rushes over to the fallen Methuselah and reassures her that they will save her. Abel observes that the Methuselah will probably not survive, as she had been shot with so much silver, her "thirst" was not taking an effect. Esther asks Abel to try to take Shahra to safety, but he is stopped by a huge robot. Abel shoots it down quickly while Esther goes after the Archbishop himself, who has fled. Things become complicated, however, when Brother Matthew arrives on the scene with his troops. The Archbishop tries to lie his way out of it, but the Inquisitor informs him they have already captured a lieutenant who has confessed to everything.

Esther informs Shahrazad that d'Annunzio has been captured, and they must run or the Inquisition will kill her. The nun proclaims she is on Shahrazad's side, just as her friend had asked her earlier. The Methuselah smiles, stands up, hugs Esther and tells her she loves her. However, knowing there is no hope for her to survive from here, Shahrazad she takes the Pope hostage and declares she will kill him.

The Methuselah dictates everyone to stand back except Esther, and orders the nun walk over to her. She places the nun's gun to her chest and orders her to kill her. Esther refuses and proclaims she would rather be killed as a witch by the Inquisition than to harm her friend. Touched by her words, Shahra cries and and thanks her tovarisch before pulling the trigger and killing herself. Shahra smiles and apologizes as she dies, knowing she was able to make Esther into a real lady saint in the eyes of the public so that she can change the world. Esther grieves for her lost friend who passes away in her arms and closes her eyes for her. Brother Matthew approaches her and asks of she was alright, to which she replies she was, and that she had killed "this vampire."

Esther visits Shahra's grave, buried beside Gyula. The nun tells her friend that she did not have the answers to the questions she wanted answers for, namely why people had to kill each other, but sternly declares she knows that it is wrong. The arc ends with Esther declaring that she would become the Lady Saint to correct that mistake, and asks her friend to watch over her.

Esther arrives in Albion as the Lady Saint, and puts on a happy face in front of the media. She is introduced to Colonel Mary Spencer, and is surprised to have such a high-ranked officer as her bodyguard. Mary walks Esther out from the press conference and informs her that it is alright for her to stop forcing herself to smile. Esther suddenly stops when she notices someone glaring at her, and Mary asks what was wrong. However, she is unable to answer as a carriage suddenly ploughs through a glass wall in front of them. Esther saves an innocent bystander while Mary fires at the carriage, shattering a wheel of the carriage. Mary asks from Esther if she knows the priest who was riding on the carriage, Esther explains that the said passed-out priest is Abel Nightroad, an AX Agent. Esther then asks the bystander she had just saved whether he was alright, but accidentally spills the contents of his bag, revealing a concealed bomb. The young man then grabs Esther, points a gun at her, and takes her as a hostage. Mary demands the man to let Esther go, promising diplomacy. The young man rebuffs the offer, pointing out he knows how "Bloody Mary" made a similar promise during the Percy Rebellion -- only to then slaughter the rebels who had already surrendered. Mary deduces that the young man must be a surviving rebel, and then attempts to convince him to let Esther go and shoot herself instead. Arguing that he will be swarmed by the Mary's subordinates, the young man rejects the idea, and attempts to flee the scene on a helicopter with Esther in tow. Unable to do anything, Mary orders her subordinates to cease firing as they might hit Esther, but the helicopter explodes, leaving Esther to fall to her death.

Esther wakes up unscathed, having fallen into a stack of hay. As she tries to find her way back, she runs into the Clement the reporter, who she pretends not to recognize. The reporter begins to pressure her into an interview by producing proof that her father, "Edward Blanchett" was actually "Edward White," the man responsible for the death of Prince Gilbert and his wife, Victoria. Their discussion is cut short when suddenly a familiar looking blond-haired man interrupts them for directions. Clement is initially annoyed and grabs the man by the wrist, but then after a chain of small, seemingly unrelated accidental events, the reporter is chased off by an angry restaurant owner. The man then seeks out Esther's help for directions, to which she obliges, only to find the map he was carrying was a world map. The man follows an annoyed Esther as she tries to walk away. Eventually, they are found by Mr. Butler the man's butler who had helped Esther earlier on. Although initially reluctant, Esther accepts the ride back to Buckingham Palace. Esther asks for the man's name, and he tells her he is Cain.

After Esther is rescued and safely returned to the palace, Professor Wordsworth and Abel Nightroad assure Esther that she is who she is, no matter who her father was. * Professor Wordsworth mentions Jane Judith Jocelyn and Ludwig II as the two candidates for the next sovereign of Albion, although Mary could be considered one as well. However, all of them have their faults: Jane's life has been embroiled with scandal, Ludwig is known as The Tyrant King, and Mary is an illegitimate child, born out of wedlock. Mary introduces Esther to Jane Judith Jocelyn, who flusters Esther greatly by flirting with her. Esther changes the topic and tries to escape. While Esther and Abel are escorted to their respective bed chambers. Esther notes Mary has a lot of influence in both the navy and the court. On the way, until they meet an unknown man in a black cape. Mary demands to know why a trespasser would wander into the residence of the Queen, to which he replies he had rushed to the palace upon hearing the Queen's ill health. Mary identifies the man as Virgil Walsh, Earl of Manchester, and denies his request. She insists he leaves, and to avoid dressing in ominous clothing when visiting the royal palace. As Mary leave them, Esther insists they must investigate in this matter. Abel persuades Esther to let him go on his own.*

When Abel does not return to the palace the next day, a worried Esther becomes too occupied in her thoughts to eat. The maids gossip about her behind her back, until Mary catches them, orders them to stop, and tells them anyone who slanders Esther would make an enemy of Mary herself. Esther appears to be very touched at the gesture.

On that same morning, Esther greets Alessandro, who had just arrived in Albion. The nun welcomes the Pope, who is quickly uttered away by Brother Petros, who leaves a snide comment about her being a former "commoner." At that moment, Mary arrives to inform Esther she has new information regarding the disappearance of Abel Nightroad in the slums. Brother Petros is upset that the priest did not come to greet the Pope, while Alessandro expresses concern over his disappearance. Esther informs the Pope she hadn't seen Abel all morning, and Alessandro requests Petros to go look for him, assuming the two were friends. Shocked, the Knight turns to Esther and tells her to ask her own department for help, but she calmly replies the other people are occupied. The Knight accidentally lets it slip that he's on an important mission assigned by Cardinal Francesco di Medici, Sister Paula interrupts him and simply tells Esther the Vatican was planning to build a new church in Londinium. Petros 'apologizes' to Esther for being unable to help, but the Pope apologizes in return for asking so much from such a busy person like himself.

Stung by the Pope's sad expression, Petros begins to panic. Paula interrupts once again and informs him to follow the Pope's Holy Decree while she takes care of the mission. A passionate Brother Andrew also appears and offers to do everything in his power to serve him in his absence. Moved by his words, a reenergized Petros swears to bring the "useless oaf" back, and shall he not return, he'll serve his head on a platter. A shocked Esther insists she would rather he bring him back alive.

Under the guise of a civilian, Esther is next seen accompanying the Pope, Mary and Jane to a horse race. Mary assures a concerned Esther that there are guards patrolling the area, but disappears not long after. Jane shocks Esther by using innuendo, but is interrupted by the Pope, who claimed he was in pain from a stomach ache. The two leave the races. A worried Esther asks if Alessandro is alright, and is mildly surprised - but glad - to find out that he had only feigned stomach pains to help her. The two discuss the people who have sacrificed their lives for them. Just as Esther and Alessandro were about to buy fish and chips, Cain and Mr. Butler appear. Cain takes Esther's fish and chips from her grasp and throws it away, infuriating Esther, before getting his own and adding salt and vinegar to it. As Esther looks to the fish and chips that Cain had just thrown away, she is stunned to find a cat who had just died after consuming it.

R

Todd attacks Alessandro and Esther.

ealizing his assassination plan had been foiled, Sweeney Todd tries to shoot Esther, only to be interrupted by an underwater explosion. Esther fights to stay conscious as she drowns to protect the Pope, remembering her promise to Shahra. She is suddenly saved by the caped man from earlier, who tells her his UV-gel is wearing off and he does not have time to introduce himself. However, he assures her he is not the enemy, and was sent by Abel to assist her.

Abel mentions Esther as someone who can help Vanessa Walsh in her quest to stop "Bloody Mary." Vanessa says that was what her brother thought as well, but she is skeptical, given Mary's cunningness and how The Lady Saint is affiliated with the Vatican, and was also responsible for the death of two Methuselah in Istvan.Vanessa insists they are better off fighting, especially now that she's found a 'trump card' in B-VI. Abel panics and tries to dissuade her, but realizing he knows what she is talking about, Vanessa accuses him of being a spy and threatens to choke him. Esther suddenly stops her by aiming her sawed-off shotgun at the back of Vanessa's head.

Virgil apologizes for Vanessa for her temper. Esther asks Abel why he was here, to which he explains that a lot had happened since last night. Esther sighs and replies she and the Pope were in a similar situation. Abel tries to hold back his panic and laughter at this. Virgil offers to take them to his place where they can discuss things further, to which they agree. Unknown to them, Brother Andrew had been spying on them the whole time.

Virgil shows Esther and the group their Ghetto. When they arrive a pharmaceutical production plant, Virgil explains they produce goods for companies above. Esther is surprised how the production is being carried out by so few people, to which Virgil explains that they manage with the help of machines. Esther realizes that the generations of Albion Queens have harbored the Methuselah because they run the production system with lost technology. Virgil invites them for tea, and Esther asks Abel whether it was alright to be so relaxed, when she notices he appears to look saddened. Esther asks him whether his wound still hurts, to which he denies. Esther notes he had not been talking and wonders what was bothering him.

Esther notices that many Methuselah of the Ghetto were scared of them, just as Terrans were scared of the Methuselah, and it was the Queen who kept the delicate balance. The nun questions herself her role and what she can do, to which catches the attention of Virgil. Esther pretends she was just wondering how the Methuselah manage their 'thirst', to which Virgil explains they buy blood from the people of the East end under the pretense of medical supplies, as it is too expensive to manufacture synthetic blood for such a small population. Virgil also informs Esther that they would require the help of the people above if an emergency strikes, specifically, if the Vatican were to find out and try to exterminate them, they would have to flee to the Empire. But due to the long distance, it would be a blessing if one or two Methuselah will arrive. Esther is sympathetic, but believing Esther does not consider Methuselah as people, Virgil assures her he is not trying to persuade her view them as humans. Virgil admits that the Vactican acknowledging the humanity of Methuselah would mean destroying their own reason for their existence. But the Methuselah do not care for the shunning, hate or fear they receive, instead, they just hope for peace and quiet.

A young Methuselah by the name of Angelica approaches them, and asks the Pope to bless her rabbit Perot, who is unwell. Esther introduces herself and knowing the Pope might be intimidated, offers to pray for Perot instead. Angelica declines the offer, arguing she was taught the Pope is "the greatest person in the world, because he sits in the palace closest to God." Alessandro is surprised and embarrassed at the compliment, and confesses other people look down upon him. Anglica becomes upset and offers to fight those people on Alessandro's behalf. Surprised with a new sense of determination, Alessandro offers to bless the rabbit, much to the delight of Angelica.

Vanessa soon arrives with the report of the artillery shell, and Virgil explains to Esther that the shell matches those used by the Germanicus infantry. Vanessa comments that it must mean someone from Germanicus wants Esther dead, and Virgil adds that it would be difficult for an ordinary hitman to procure the official military machines guns. Vanessa orders Angelica to go home, and shouts at her when she refuses. The Pope stands up for her, and Virgil tries to reason with Virgil. But Vanessa grabs Virgil and knocks him out with a shot of silver and morphine. A confused Virgil questions her, to which she responds that she has grown impatient of his "lukewarm methods." Vanessa then explains to the group that her informants have told her that Mary has teamed up with The Inquisition and will destroy the Ghetto soon, and that she will use The Lady Saint and The Pope to buy more time.

Abel tries to convince Vanessa to stop, but Vanessa does not relent and threatens to kill him. Esther grips her gun and tries to rationalize that Vanessa will only make any Methuselah-Terran negotiations more difficult, as it is exactly the excuse the military on the surface is looking for. Vanessa simply shrugs it off, retorting that time for "her kind" has run out, as her informants have told her that Bloody Mary has joined forces with the Inquisition. Mary will destroy the Methuselah and campaign for the throne as she is an illegitimate daughter, Vanessa explains, much to Esther's surprise. The nun questions why Mary's illegitimacy would cause her to destroy the Ghetto, but before Vanessa could finish explaining that Mary intends to gather support from the Vatican by doing the Inquisition's bidding, Abel suddenly pulls out his gun and aims it directly at Alessandro and Angelica. The priest fires despite Vanessa and Esther's objections, but to their surprise, it is the wall that Abel fired at, which had a secret policeman hiding behind it.

An army of secret police suddenly arrive with guns ablaze. Vanessa attacks them and suspects Esther and Abel to be the ones who informed them of the Pope's location. The two deny it but Vanessa is not convinced. Suddenly, the ground beneath them begins to shake. Video screens reveal that the entire Ghetto is invaded by troops, armored motor suits, and the Albion military. Vanessa curses Bloody Mary as the scene unfolds and takes her leave as Angelica watches. Abel asks where she is going, but Vanessa cryptically answers that the Ghetto, her home, has been destroyed, and that "betrayal has opened [her] eyes". The Methuselah vanishes before Abel remarks to himself that Vanessa plans on "using that" and destroy the whole of Londinium, which does not go unnoticed by Esther.
Esther asks Abel what "that" is, but Abel simply smiles at her and tells her to stay there, before running off after Vanessa. The nun stares as the priest leaves before desolately remarking to herself that Abel knows many things she does not know, and believes there are many things she should not know of. Alessandro's voice suddenly interrupts her train of thought. The Pope convinces her to leave him and Esther runs after Abel.

Esther tries to follow Abel's path but stumbles upon two men dressed as soldiers. The two inform her that they have come to rescue her, but Esther suddenly snatches their guns and aims it at them. The nun explains she deduced they were not Albion soldiers based on the guns they were carrying. The shorter soldier takes off his helmet and reveals them both to be living corpses, then proceeds to kill Esther.

Just as Esther is about to be killed in the underground Methuselah Ghetto by Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd, Cain appears, throwing roses and injuring one of the assassins. Jack the Ripper throws knives at Cain and Esther, but all of his weapons are mysteriously reflected back at him. After both of them flee, Esther collapses into Cain's arms, insisting they find Abel, who had gone off to stop Vanessa from activating "the thing" in B-VI. Cain quietly agrees.

Abel is about to kill Isaak when Cain calls out to him. Crying, Cain speaks of how glad he is to see his brother again, and apologizes for leaving him for so long, and promises he would not leave him alone again. Enraged, Abel lunges at Cain, but is decapitated in the process. Cain holds Abel's decapitated body fondly while a horrified Esther watches.

Esther is mentioned by Twenty-Six members of the The House of Lords when topic falls onto the order of succession, wherein it is agreed that Esther was not suited to becoming Queen, and that her heritage should be kept a secret. Mary informs a curious Jane that Esther had locked herself in the chapel and had been grieving the whole time. The meeting is interrupted as a messenger delivers an urgent message that the Queen has suddenly taken a turn for the worst. Mary mentions to Jane that the Albion parliament is a pandemonium, filled with vultures. Jane encourages Mary to ignore her illegitimacy and take the throne. Moved by Jane's words, Mary informs her to leave first, while she will go and pick up Esther. Jane says it would be fitting for the two sisters to go together, and Mary is surprised when she realizes she had been so preoccupied, she had completely overlooked that fact.

It is revealed that the assassins who tried to kill Esther and Pope Alessandro were sent by Mary, who had asked them to stage an assassination to frame The Kingdom of Germanicus. The assassins admit they disobeyed those orders and tried to truly murder Esther, instead of staging a failed assassination by Germanicus, because they wanted Mary to be Queen.

Esther wakes up to a nightmare.

In Esther's flashback, she fired several rounds into Isaak and Cain, revealing a large hole in Cain's body, but he explains it was a burn sustained a long time ago. Disappointed that Isaak cannot recover the DNA blueprint, they key to restoring his body Cain realizes he could just use Abel's body instead. Cain offers to buy food for Esther when they return to the surface and tries to grab Abel's body, but the Krusnik 02's body deflects back with a bold of lightning. Cain and Isaak leaves as his body begins to crumble, but not before warning Esther that things will be difficult from then on, and makes her promise him that she will not cry or give up. Refusing to believe the truth that Abel has died, Esther assures herself that Abel will appear before her. Reality finally sinks in when The Professor arrives and confirms his death. Esther awakens to find that everything that had happened was not a nightmare, but reality that was far worse than a nightmare could ever be.

Mary comforts a saddened Esther.

Cain, now in his regeneration chamber, asks him whether Esther would like his present, but Isaak seems skeptical that she would like her new title. Isaak questions Abel's status, and Cain confirms he is dead. Isaak appears to be disappointed that Cain and Abel had not been able to talk, to which Cain argues it was Abel who lunged at him. Their new problem, however, was now transporting Abel's body to their location, considering the only two people who can approach the body would be their sister and Cain himself. Disappointed that he cannot leave the regeneration chamber for another twelve hours, Cain begins to worry that the Vatican will move his body away. Isaak suggests he will to the the city to buy them some time, and that he had stumbled upon something interesting the night before, which he can use to bring Abel's body next to Cain's.

A devastated and guilt-stricken Esther tells Pope Alessandro that she was useless, unable to stop Abel's death, nor avenge him, then proceeds to hurt herself. The nun is confronted by Mary, who comforts her and allows her to grieve, but tells her she must also find the strength to stand back up. Mary reveals that she is not alone, for they are sisters. She comforts Esther as she cries, but just as they head off to visit their dying grandmother, Jane interrupts them, bringing news that the secret behind Esther's identity has been leaked to the media. The three of them head out while their body-doubles distract the crowd.

Mary takes Esther to see their dying grandmother, Queen Bridget II, and informs her she has to leave. Mary reveals her mother, the former Viscountess of Carslie, was named Harriet. She explains to Esther that the Queen hated her mother for stealing her son, and that she didn't consider Mary as her grandchild. Esther insists she stays, but Mary informs her she has unfinished business to attend to, before leaving the room with a cryptic expression.

The Queen wakes up, much to Esther's surprise. The Queen, who could no longer see clearly, mistakes Esther for Mary and beings to apologize to her granddaughter. Esther starts to leave so she can get Mary, but Bridget grabs her hand and begs 'Mary' not to leave her. Esther reluctantly takes off her habit and listens to the Queen.

Bridget reveals how guilty she had been all these years for neglecting Mary, mainly because the dukes forced her into that position, knowing they would have rebelled or assassinated Mary if she didn't allow them. Bridget names Mary as the next Queen, and then tells 'Mary' that she never hated her, but was reminded her mother killed Princess Victoria and her child every time she saw her.

Esther, in a state of shock, begs the Queen to reveal more. Bridget confesses she was the one who sealed the documents that detailed it was Mary's mother who sent assassins to murder Princess Victoria, all so that Mary could inherit the throne. Yet, at the same time, Bridget did not look for her missing granddaughter because she knew the truth would harm Mary. The Queen dies in tears shortly after this.

Esther prays for Bridget and leaves the room, determined to tell Mary she is the next Queen, but not the truth regarding Princess Victoria's murder. To her shock, she stumbles upon a room of dead bodies and is grabbed by what seems to be a vampire. Esther manages to grab her shotgun and take him hostage, and deducing that these 'vampires' are humans in disguise, who have murdered the other people in order to frame the Ghetto Methuselah. Jack the Ripper appears and proclaims it is exactly like she says, before adding that it is regrettable, as she would have been a wise ruler if she had become Queen.[5]

Esther recognizes Jack the Ripper as the Germanicus soldier who attacked her when she was in the Ghetto. The nun demands to know why he was disguising Germanicus assassins as vampires to murder her, but Jack corrects her that they were not from Germanicus, but were part of the "Phantom Legion", an army of the dead. Corporal Hart asks Jack whether it is safe to proceed with the murder without orders from 'Her Majesty', but Jack offers to take responsibility, knowing Mary is too kind to allow this to go through. Jack explains to Esther that Mary is the Queen of the Dead, before Corporal slams her into the ground. The nun feels something strange, but Corporal Hart is too preoccupied explaining his prosthetic arm to notice. Jack steps on Esther and sends her his farewell but before he is able to raise his blade to stab her, his hand is burned by acid. The rest of the Phantom Legion is in shock as massive tentacles appear from under Esther's robes. It slides out, spitting acid at the group. Esther, too, is horrified, but manages to convince herself to take the opportunity to run. The nun leaves to tell Mary her grandmother loved her, and that she is the next Queen.[6]

Esther is named after the Biblical heroine from the Book of Esther, the Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus, who stopped the massacre of Jews in Persia.
The name "Esther" may have originated from "astra," a reconstructed Median word meaning "myrtle". The name may also possibly be from the Hebrew interpretation of the Proto-Semitic word for "star/'morning/evening star'". Another theory is that the name originated from the theonym Ishtar, the East Semitic Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex.

"Blanchett" is the variation of "blanche," meaning "white" in French. In the series, it is implied that Edward White invented this name as a variant of his own to hide her true identity.

"Lady Saint Esther"... huh... When I was standing here before, there were many things I wanted to know. Why... Did my family had to die? Why... Did I have to fight to survive? Why... Did I have to dirty these hands with blood? I wanted to know, no matter what. But...There are still things in this world I don't understand very well. Why... Do we have to kill one another? I really don't understand... But there is one thing that I understand. And that is what has happened is wrong. That's why, Shahra, I will become the "Lady Saint".